Appreciation Quote by Edsger Dijkstra
“We shall do a much better programming job, provided that we approach the task with a full appreciation of its tremendous difficulty, provided that we stick to modest and elegant programming languages, provided that we respect the intrinsic limitations of the human mind and approach the task as Very Humble Programmers.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Remarks on Programming, 1972
Effective programming requires recognizing difficulty, using simple languages, and staying humble about human limits.
In simple terms: Programmers should be modest and realistic about complexity.
Key Takeaway
Embrace simplicity and humility.
Themes
humility
complexity
programming
human limits
elegance
Mood
reflective
thoughtful
Type
advice
philosophical
When to use this quote
- software development
- team collaboration
- education
- process improvement
Key Concepts
cognitive constraints
software design
language choice
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you balance simplicity with required functionality?
- What practices keep you humble in complex projects?
A Different Perspective
Simplicity may limit performance or expressiveness.
![“Please don't fall into the trap of believing that I am terribly dogmatical about [the goto statement]. I have the uncomfortable feeling that others are making a religion out of it, as if the conceptual problems of programming could be solved by a single trick, by a simple form of coding discipline!” quote by Edsger Dijkstra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6ad/edsger-dijkstra-5102_believe_please-don-t-fall-into-the-trap-of-belie_167695.jpg)
